22 Winter 2011 Applegater
MY OPINION FROM BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR
Looking for work
BY CHRIS BRATT
The Applgegater is looking
for a few volunteers for
proof reading.
If interested, Call
J.D. Rogers at
541-946-7736
One of my sons is a laser optics
engineer designing computerized parts
for a variety of new machines. He says
large corporations are concentrating their
research and development money these
days on fabricating machines that make
more machines, that make other machines
to yield products that will never require
any manual skill in their manufactur-
ing. Soon, he says, these final machines
(robots) will make a dramatic shift in our
economic landscape. They will change
forever the way goods are mass produced
and eliminate the need for millions of jobs
in all our manufacturing industries.
If my son’s predictions are correct,
what kind of employment is in the future
for our nation’s skilled workforce who
now create useful or desired products?
America’s population has already passed
the 300 million mark and is moving on
to 400 million. Also, the world’s poorest
and already over-populated countries are
projected to double their populations by
2050. All of these folks are, or will be,
looking for some kind of useful work to
pay the bills and survive. Will they be
able to become college graduates, an elite
and superior class who is able to secure the
choice jobs, designing the machines that
do the work? I don’t think so.
The future tasks for most people
who will be looking for work seem to
be already set in place. Much work to-
day consists of menial or tedious jobs
and jobs that provide services to others.
There are also large numbers of part-time
or unemployed persons. It’s like another
Industrial Revolution with more and more
people put out of work from changes in the
economy and by how and where goods are
produced. (Where are the Luddites when
we need them?)
These new conditions are forcing us
to reconsider our present beliefs in work
as a moral good (work-ethic) and what
we considered or assumed was a fulfilling
work life. The present entrenched idea that
we must work hard and working hard will
eventually make you a better person and a
success has gone out the window. We are
now facing the widespread economic rami-
These new conditions are
forcing us to reconsider our
present beliefs in work as a
moral good (work-ethic) and
what we considered or as-
sumed was a fulfilling work
life. The present entrenched
idea that we must work hard
and working hard will eventu-
ally make you a better person
and a success has gone out
the window.
fications of fewer high paying jobs, shorter
hours of work, lower wages, impoverished
living conditions and an overall lower
standard of living for most people.
Because these are ongoing changes
for people who work for wages, it’s obvi-
ous to me that we have to start rethinking
our ideas of what constitutes a healthy,
meaningful, and productive work life
for the people of
our nation and
the world. Per-
haps we need to
Chris Bratt
consider a new
Renaissance with a cultural revival in the
arts, science, and intellectual activity.
We also need to realize that work
is more than an activity that we engage in
only as a means of making a livelihood.
Investment in these cultural, scientific and
social activities also needs to be remuner-
ated as any other occupation or profes-
sion. Everyone who does something that
is useful, durable and dependable needs
a paycheck to cover the bills.
I admit that I don’t have all the
answers to the worldwide economic and
related problems. But one doesn’t have
to be an expert to know our economic
system in its present form is headed
for disaster. What would be the matter
with a sustainable growth policy for our
nation that didn’t exploit our workers
or our resources; a policy that plans for
full employment and a livable wage for
everyone who wants or needs work; a
policy that gives people hope for their
future and doesn’t reject the neediest and
poorest of our people. We can no longer
let the ultra-rich folks and their robots set
the rules and call the tune to which we are
all presently dancing in order to survive.
Let me know if you want to dance
to another tune.
Chris Bratt
541-846-6988